Conversations a woman with diabetes must face when considering getting pregnant.

OB/Gyn:

“Okay, so when do you plan to get pregnant again?”
“Whenever. My husband and I are prepared now, but any time within the next year would be ideal.”
“No, really, when do you want to get pregnant again?”
“If it happens next month, it’s fine.”
“Ohhhh – I see you have T1 diabetes. And your A1c is not quite where we’d want it to be for preconception purposes.”
“Yes, I’m aware of that. But I’ve been through this already and know what’s expected of me.”
“When did you deliver?”
“41 weeks.”
“Whoooaaa! You must have been really good at what you were doing and knew your stuff to let Dr. [MFM name] let you go that long. But, still, your A1C needs work.”
“Yes, I’m actively working on it (lady, get off my back)”
“Well, are you sure you don’t want another form of birth control/pre-conception counseling? We even admit women with diabetes who don’t have great control of their diabetes, but your’s seems almost there.”
“No, thank you. I know what the expectation is.”
“So when do you want to get pregnant, again? Because since you have diabetes, you are at a greater risk of miscarriage so we want that A1C to be below 6.0.”
“…”

Endocrinologist:

[runs through insurance provided check-list] “…And you are still on [form of birth control]?”
“No.”
“So are you using any sort of birth control right now?”
“I’m tracking my cycles casually, but no, not really.”
[Something incoherent about A1C not being where it should be, greater risk for miscarriage, blah blah blah, I stopped listening.]

Blood Sugars:

“Oh, you don’t have any hormonal birth control in place?? WOOOOOO HOOOOOOO! ALLLLL THE HYPOGLYCEMIA!”

Well… they did want my A1C lower.